


carry a tune

by amfiguree



Category: American Idol RPF, Twilight (Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mentions of Buffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 09:10:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amfiguree/pseuds/amfiguree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Jacob signs them both up for American Idol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	carry a tune

It's stupid, and it's selfish (the two things that are, by now, her middle name) so of course Bella doesn't speak to anyone for three months after Buffy.  
  
Charlie tries cajoling and threatening and even, once, grounding her for a week; nothing works.   
  
Mike offers jokes, companionship, a shoulder to cry on, even though he has no idea what's going on, doesn't know that she's dying inside because she isn't ever going to be able to compete with a _vampire slayer_ for Edward's affections--   
  
So, needless to say, that doesn't work either.  
  
Jacob hovers, spends every waking minute he can with her, filling in the holes her silences leave with his own words. It's just like before.   
  
Eventually, that's what breaks her.  
  
Well, that, and the fact that he signs them both up for the auditions to the first season of American Idol: The Duet Edition.  
  
  
  
Bella puts up a token protest when she realizes Jacob is _serious_ about the whole thing, that he's got a bag packed, and that he's roped Charlie into packing hers (which is something she's not even going to think about right now, because her dad going through her closet? Not exactly imagery she needs stuck in her head).   
  
But then Jacob looks down at her, and his eyes are so warm. "Come on, Bells," he says, and rests his forehead against hers. "It'll be fun, and you could use some fun right now."  
  
She closes her eyes, lets his voice lull her -- when did he become her center of gravity, too?  
  
"Plus," he adds, nudging her shoulder, "If we suck, I'll even let you blame it on me."  
  
Just like that, Bella Swan finds herself headed for the American Idol experience.  
  
  
  
When they first get to Dallas, as much as she hates to admit it, Bella's kind of awestruck by the number of people who turn up to audition.  
  
She's so awestruck, in fact, that she doesn't realize Jacob's talking to the cameras until it's too late to stop him.  
  
"Little known fact about Bella Swan?" he's saying, when she finally tears her eyes away from the odd duo in the corner of the room (it's just--one looks like a wannabe rockstar in dire need of a haircut, and the other looks like he should be on the Disney Channel, and yet, somehow, weirdly enough, they still _fit_ ). "She's almost half-vampire."  
  
Her jaw drops. "And he's a werewolf," she snaps back, glaring at him.  
  
"I am," Jacob says, without missing a beat, draping a casual arm around her. There's laughter hidden in his voice, in his gaze, when he slants another look at her, and says, "So now you know our secret."  
  
(Later, much later, they air the clip, and both of them get into trouble with Sam and Billy for not knowing when to toe the line, are you two _crazy_ , you could have exposed _all of us_ \--)  
  
At that moment, though, all Bella can think of to do is laugh.  
  
Jacob's grip on her shoulder tightens, briefly, and the smile he aims at her, that little quirk of his mouth, the tilt of his chin--  
  
It feels good.  
  
  
  
The thing is, the audition process takes _forever_ , (which Bella supposes she should have figured out, given that they're contestants number 2984 and 2985, respectively) and once they've been interviewed, there isn't much to do but sit around and wait.  
  
Jacob's tall enough and good-looking enough (and she does _not_ blush as she thinks that, absolutely not) to draw almost anyone's attention, even without the bonus of his sweet, sunny smile. He's charming and polite without being threatening, and soon he ends up fielding questions from half the room, throwing occasional, apologetic glances at her over his shoulder.   
  
Bella sighs and wraps her arms around herself, tries to quench the way her mouth is attempting to curve, because--it's _Jake_ , of course this was bound to happen eventually.  
  
Across her, one half of the odd duo she'd been watching earlier (the Disney half) is staring fondly out in the same direction. "Not a big fan of people either, huh?" she says, suddenly, without quite knowing why.  
  
He's startled into saying, "What?" and then he blushes and ducks his head. "Um, yeah. I mean, no, not really, I just--yeah."  
  
Bella surprises herself by smiling, decides it must be Jacob's influence. "I know the feeling," she says. "I'm Bella, Bella Swan. The seven foot freak over there is my partner, Jacob."  
  
"I'm David," her competition replies. "But you can call me Archie. And that's Cook over there, my, um--my partner."  
  
The word lilts into a question, and Bella thinks _oh. Oh._ "Oh," she says, and Archie must see the look on her face because he goes on to add, hurriedly, "Why did you guys decide to try out for Idol?"  
  
 _Because the boy I loved decided to run off with the one person in the world who could probably kill him in her sleep, and my best friend thinks this is going to fix me._  
  
"Jacob thinks I need some fun in my life," she settles for, eventually, and smiles as she picks him out of the crowd. "I guess -- I think he may have been right."  
  
  
  
She exchanges phone numbers with David (which Jacob teases her _mercilessly_ about, when he finds out, especially since, "he's gay, taken, and probably twelve years old, Bells.") just before it's her turn to audition.  
  
Surprise, surprise, they don't get a yellow ticket.  
  
"We should practice," Jacob says, rubbing the back of his neck absently as they pile back into the Rabbit, after.  
  
She looks up at him, at that, says blankly, "What?"  
  
"We should practice," Jacob repeats, stronger this time, and she sees him glance at her out of the corner of his eye. His hands are clenched on the wheel, foot tap-tap-tapping erratically on the floorboard. "You know, come up with an actual routine, and maybe we'll stand a chance at next year's auditions."  
  
 _'A routine?'_ Bella wants to say, and _'next year?'_  
  
"As long as I get to choose our song," she hears herself reply, instead.   
  
Jacob's answering grin spreads warmth in her chest, this soft, honey-thick glow, and she leans into him again, on instinct, feels that gravity-like pull that's getting harder and harder to ignore.  
  
"I can live with that," Jacob says, after a second, and if his voice catches on the last word, if he sounds a little shaky, Bella just listens to the way his pulse stutters in his chest, and doesn't comment.


End file.
